Archive By Section - Opinion

Every year the Georgia State legislature passes hundreds of bills and sends them to the Governor for his consideration. The Governor can sign the bill into law, veto the bill or do neither and allow the bill to become law without his signature.

When news of former House Speaker Glenn Richardson's alleged affair with a lobbyist broke late last year, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle beat the drum for tougher ethics laws. In fact, you could hardly turn around without hearing a candidate for governor talking about ethics.

States with weak gun laws supply guns to criminals in other states at a rate five times higher than dealers in states with stronger gun laws, according to a Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence analysis of newly released crime gun trace data.

Next week, Georgia's seniors will receive a $250 rebate check from the federal government to pay for some lifesaving medications if they fall within the Medicare Part D coverage gap known as the "donut hole." That $250 check is the beginning of the end for the donut hole – and was made possible by the Affordable Care Act.

According to current nuclear industry proposals, over two dozen new nuclear reactors would be constructed in the United States, the vast majority in the Southeast and Texas. President Obama recently offered $8.3 billion worth of taxpayer-backed loan guarantees to two of them in Georgia, which could be the first to be built in the U.S. in nearly four decades.

Articles by Section - Opinion

Editor, On Dec. 16, 1773, demonstrators destroyed an entire shipment of tea in the Boston Harbor in protest of taxation without representation. Today, we have ultra-taxation with representation. At the rate that we are going, we will just sign over our employment checks and accept the spending money that our government gives us.

If you watched the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago - and reports say that 114 million of us did - perhaps you saw a portion of the reprehensible behavior of Seattle wide receiver Doug Baldwin who, after scoring a touchdown, proceeded to mime pulling down his pants and squatting as if on a commode, before dropping the ball to the ground as if using the restroom. The NFL fined Baldwin $11,000, which has to be chump change to this boor. Astonishingly, the incident has gotten very little mention in the media. You can bet this kind of obscene showboating ...

The Georgia Senate had a busy week. We held numerous committee meetings to review legislation and listen to testimony either opposing or supporting bills being considered. The committee process is where the bills are vetted before being considered by the Senate, and it is a crucial part of the legislative process.

February 11, 2015|
By State Sen. Ben Watson
Special to the Courier
|Opinion

What mystical powder or elixir anoints our elected officials with the knowledge contained in the Encyclopedia Britannica and all the experience amassed by mankind since Adam and Eve? Apparently, the substance - whatever it is - imparts this knowledge and experience within the first 30 seconds of being sworn into office.